Stationery guiding instrumentality



Oct. 15, M- SMALLEY 2,017,636

STATIONERY GUIDING INSTRUMENTALITY Filed May 26, 1954 INVENTOR B M. N.SAMLL E Y A TTO/PNE V Patented pct. 15, 1935 2,017,636 y STATIONERYGUIDING INSTRUMENTALITY Me -win N. Smalley. Westwood, N. J., assignorto' Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York 7 Application May 26, 1934, Serial No. 727,778

1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improved form of stationery guidinginstrumentalities designed primarily for use in guiding unperforatedmulticopy stationery during the process of feeding it from a supplyroll.

When unperforated multicopy stationery is fed from a supply rollbyfriction feeding instrumentalities into and through a printing machine,such as a teletypewriter, there is a tendency for the individual sheetsof the multicopy stationery to weave sidewise and to become lat- I theytend to cause bulging and buckling of the individual sheets of themulticopy stationery. This bulging and buckling impede, and sometimesprevent, the proper feeding of the stationery. This often results intearing the edges 5, of the stationery and in improper positioning ofthe words typed upon the stationery.

The purpose of the present invention is to reduce the sidewise weavingand lateral misalignment of unperforated multicopy stationery duringfeeding operations. In accordance with this invention, a supply roll ofunperforated multicopy stationery is placed upon a spindle having acircular/ end-plate adjustably and detachably mounted on each end of thespindle and held closely against the edges of the supply roll. D

to the fact that this end-plate has a larger ameter than the supply rollhas, the individual sheets of stationery cannot weave sidewise norbecome laterally misaligned while they are on the supply roll but areheld tightly in correct latoral alignment.

Although it has been stated above that these stationery guidinginstrumentalities are designed primarily for use in guiding unperforatedmulti- 45 copy stationery, they may also be used in connection with thefeeding of perforated stationery whether of the multicopy type or not,as well as single sheet unperforated stationery. These guidinginstrumentalities are of great assistance 50 when used for guidingmulticopy stationery because the misalignment of the individual sheetsof this type of stationery is much more objec tionable than themisalignment of single sheet stationery. However, they are most usefulwhen 66 g eyare used for guiding unperforated multicopy stationerybecause such stationery is fed only by friction feedinginstrumentalities which are not as capable of reducing misalignment ofthe individual sheets of stationery as are the sprocket feedinginstrumentalities used for feeding per- 5 forated stationery.

The invention will now be described in detail in connection with thedrawing in which:

Fig. 1 shows "the spindle used for supporting a supply roll ofstationery; l0

2 illustrates the appearance of one of the end-plates when it is notmounted on the spindle; and

Fig. 3 represents the stationery guiding instrumentalities completelyassembled for guidl6 ing stationery from a supply roll.

It can be seen in Fig. 1 that the spindle I has a projection 2 at eachend. The purpose of these projections 2-2 is to enable the spindle to berotatably mounted in a printing machine, such as 20 a teletypewriter. Itcan also be seen that the spindle I has two circumferential grooves 3and 4 in and near its left end and two more circumferential grooves 5and 6 in and near the right end. grooves in and near each end of thespindle is to enable it to be used with supply rolls of diflerent widthsas will be explained later. For purposes of illustration, it may beassumed that it is intended to use the spindle I for supporting sup- 30ply rolls which are either eight or eight and onehalf inches wide. Onthe basis of this assumption, the supply roll ll, shown in Fig. 3, wouldbe eight and one-half inches wide, the distance between the grooves 4and 5 would be about eight 35 inches, and the distance between thegrooves 3 and 6 would be about eight and one-half inches.

The end-plate 1, shown in Fig. 2, is one of a pair. Because each of theend-plates is identical in form and construction only one has been shownhere for the sake of simplicity. The endplate I has a circular opening 8in its center portion in order that the end-plate I may be mounted uponthe spindle l. Stretched across the circular opening 8 are two helicallycoiled springs 9-9 which are attached to the endplate I by means of fourrivets Ill.

To assemble these stationery guiding instrumentalities into a completeassembly, as shown in Fig. 3, a supply roll ll of unperforated multlcopystationery I2 is placed upon the spindle I. This stationery l2 consistsof individual sheets of paper l3 interleaved with carbon sheets I l. Thestationery is usually wound on a cardboard roller (not shown) in orderto make a compact 56 The reason for having a plurality of 25 a supplyroll II. In placing the supply roll II upon the spindle I,'all that isnecessary to do is to simply push the spindle I inside the cardboardroller (not shown) of thesupply roll II.

After supply roll I I has been placed upon spindle I, an end-plate I ismounted upon one end of spindle I, such as the left end, by insertingthe end of spindle I through the opening 8 in endplate I and betweensprings 9-9. The end-plate I is then pushed against the left edge ofsupply roll II thereby enabling springs 9-9 to fit into,

, or co-act with, groove} in spindle I thus securely holding end-plate Ifirmly against the edge of supply roll II. The other end-plate I -isthen mounted in a similar manner upon the other end (the right end) ofspindle I. In this case,

springs 9-9 will fit into groove 6 in spindle I.

As was stated above, it is assumed that the width of supply roll II iseight and one-half inches and that the distance between grooves 3.

and 6- is about eight and one-half inches. In other words, grooves 3 andIi are so located as to cause end-plates 1-1 to be held in closejuxtaposition with the edges of supply roll II.

In Fig. 3, it can be seen that the diameter of each of the end-plates1-1 is greater than the diameter of the supply roll II. This serves toprevent anyof the individual sheets of the multicopy stationery I2 fromslipping or sliding over the edge of supply roll II. As a result, theindividual-sheets of stationery I2 are held in correct lateral alignmenton the cardboard roller (not shown) of supply roll II and, when supplyroll II is rotated by the feeding of stationery I2 during printingoperations,end-plates 'I'| will serve to guide stationery I2 from thesupply roll II and will prevent stationery I2 from weaving sidewise andbecoming laterally misaligned.

If it should be desired to use a supply roll of a different width, suchas eight inches, the procedure (after placing it upon the spindle I)would be to mount an end-plate 1 upon one end, such as the left end, ofspindle I in the manner described above. This time, however, theendplate I should be pushed over on the spindle I sufllciently to allowsprings 9-9 to fit into groove 4. The other end-plate 'I would then bemounted on the right end of spindle I and should be pushed over closelyagainst the edges of the supply roli. This would enablesprings 9-9 toflt into groove 5, thereby holding both end-plates 1-1 in closejuxtaposition with the edges of the supplyroll. 5

In this manner, the plurality'of grooves in each end of the spindle Ienable the position of the end-plates 1-1 to be varied, or adjusted, inaccordance with variations in the widths of the supply rolls used. Thereason for having a plu- 10 rality of grooves in each end of the spindleI instead'of Just one end is to enable a supply roll to be centered onspindle I regardless of the .width of the supply roll.

It is to be understood that only two grooves 15 have been shown in eachend of the spindle I for the sake of simplicity. The invention is notlimited to only two, but includes as many as are needed for thedifferent widths 0! supply rolls that are desired to be used in aparticularly 2o printing machine. Likewise, the invention is not limitedto circular end-plates but extends to endplates of different shapes. Theuse of helical coiled springs has been shown as the preferred embodimentof the holding means for holding 25 the end-plates on the spindle. Someother type of springs or similar holding means could be used withoutdepartment from the scope of the invention which is to be determinedonly by the appended claim.

- What is claimed is:

A device for holding a roll of stationery-upon a roller having acircumferential groove in and near each end, said device includingapparatus for reducing lateral misalignment of the stationery, saidapparatus comprising flat endplates having openings therein for enablingthe ends of the roller to b'e'passed through the endplates, each of saidend-plates having a larger diameter than the roll of stationery, andinstru- 40 mentalities for holding the end-plates in place upon theroller and in close juxtaposition with the edges of the roll ofstationery, said instrumentalities including a plurality of helicallycoiled springs attached to each end-plate and 5 stretched across theopening in each end-plate for engaging with the grooves in the roller.

MERWIN N. SMALLEY.

